Category: Projects

As I begin then process of the CNC Router build, I am going into new areas that I haven’t had much experience in. A big example is metals. While it is possible to build much of the machine from wood, and there are many good examples of CNC machines out there, for best rigidity going with metal is the best way to go. Obviously the rails and ball screws are steal, but other components are going to be made from aluminum. Part of what goes into coming up with a design to build this machine is researching materials, and more importantly the cost of these materials. This has involved considerable research, from Google searches to eBay. It really pays to do this, as one site may have a component for one price, and another for 50% less. For example, I will need two lengths of angle aluminum. After doing searches on the web, eBay, and a few other metal vendors, I have found the best price, after shipping, is 80/20.

While the materials is an important component, getting the right measurements is critical. As I mentioned in my first post, I already bought the rails and ball screws, along with the bearing guides, mounts, and other parts. During the process of attaching the ball screws to the mounts, I discovered that one wouldn’t go on. In my effort to work on this, I decided to remove the nut from the screw. BIG mistake. The reason they call these ball screws isn’t because the threads are rounded. They are rounded so that ball bearings can travel inside of them. I did not discover this until I had the nut partially off, and ball bearings started coming out. I quickly grabbed a magnetic bowl to collect the bearings. After some advice from Jason, watching a couple YouTube videos, and about 2 frustrating hours, I was able to get successfully get the nut repacked. Needless to say, I will not be making that mistake again! Once I got the burs filed off, I finally was able to get the ball screw rods assembled, and I got my measurements, and recorded them in OneNote. I go over this a bit in the video I posted as well.

I am utilizing OneNote considerably for this project. As I mentioned, I am reaching out to new areas where I am finding that there is a LOT of information to digest. Simply put, I can’t keep track of it all in my head. So I am doing a lot of documenting along the way, including everything from measurements to tracking my orders, to how much I have been spending, all kept in a OneNote notebook.

Gantry Design Option 1Gantry Design Option 2

I have begun designing the machine in SketchUp. The 3D Warehouse is absolutely invaluable for this. All the the rails components are in there, which has allowed me to work on an accurate as possible design. I am looking at using some 80/20 components. They have all their profiles in various CAD formats, including SketchUp, available for download. On top of that SketchUp does a GREAT job of going between metric and imperial measurements. At this point, I have the main platform designed, as well as most of the gantry. My next update will go in to my next steps of the design.

Before I get started, I want to put out a big THANK YOU to Jason Beam. He has provided an absolute wealth of information and inspiration to help start to make this project a reality for me!

This is likely going to be one of the most complex projects I have undertaken to date. However, the process to build this project is the same as any other project. Every complex project is broken down to individual tasks and challenges to be solved. Some will take more time and effort than others. Like any woodworking project, this build is done one step at a time, until the end result is a working CNC router. Something I am doing a little different with this build, as I am using Microsoft Onenote to keep track of the various aspects of the build. Everything from part specs, to the number of screws needed. This is going to help keep my head straight as I move along on this project. It will also help provide some of foundation for future posts too!

The first thing I needed to determine, was how big of a CNC router did I want. First I have to be realistic, as much as I would love to have a large machine, I simply don’t have the room for one that is too big. So the first decision I made was an approximate size machine I wanted. In my case, I am looking to build one that is approximately 3’x2′. While it is not real large, looking at the types of projects I often take on, I don’t do a lot with sheet goods, and I don’t typically have work pieces that exceed that size, so this really should be sufficient to my needs. With the size determined, I can start the real planning.

Before I can really start designing the machine, I need to determine how the router is going to move. This took a significant amount of research, as honestly I had no clue where to start, and if the was even feasible for me. Think back to your geometry and algebra classes, a CNC works on the X, Y, and Z planes. Each direction direction or plane is referred to as an axis. All CNC routers have at least 3 axes, which is what I am building. More complex machines can have more than 3, but for now that is more advanced then what I am willing to take on. With getting each axis to move, it is imperative that they move in a stable, and precise manner, while supporting the weight of the router, gantry and other moving parts. This actually is a lot of mass to move. Any extra movement results in reduction in precision of the machine. A few basic Google searches reveal many solutions to accomplish this, from home grown options to various rail and screw systems, each with its own pros and cons. With the help of Jason and his wisdom, I did go with a more premium option, with using SBR20 linear rails. I was able to save quite a bit of money by ordering a rail and screw kit through a company that works through eBay. The kit I ordered came in very close to the size I was looking for, and included all the mechanical elements needed to make this move well. This includes the SBR20 linear rails, the linear blocks, C7 ball screws, and all the needed mounting hardware. These parts are heavy duty, and will help form a strong foundation for my machine.

It may seem a little backwards to start buying parts before drawing up any plans. However, there is a method to my madness here. Right now I have several mental images of how I want this to look. Beyond that, I really needed to see how the rails and screws are put together. This will allow me to move them around on the floor, and get measurements from them. This will allow me to start drawing up the designs in Sketch Up.

My next few posts will go into further details of planning and design. In the meantime, feel free to post any questions in the comments, and I will answer them with the best of my ability. Till next time, happy and safe woodworking!

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I know I said back when I did the video of the drawers I was going to do another follow-up video. I will be honest, in many ways, I felt that video is a bit of a disaster, so much that video prompted me to retool my video production capabilities a bit. However, I am ready to move on to other projects and videos, so I decided to finish up the drawers without the eye of the video camera.

The first thing I worked on was the pulls. I went through several design ideas, including sometime on the lathe, band saw, and shaping with hand tools. In the end I went with simple square pulls that taper inward. I did this by ripping a couple of strips of maple on the band saw, with the table set at 15 degrees. Keeping the fence and table in the same position, I crosscut each strip to the square pulls. I sanded them down thoroughly, and glued them on to the drawers. After the glue dried, I put a good coat of boiled linseed oil on each drawer. I let them sit and cure for a week. I then sprayed them with several coats of shellac, and then gave them a light sanding to smooth out the finish.

While completing the drawers for the hand tool cabinet is a significant milestone in its build, I will not call it done. As my hand tool collection grows and evolves, new additions will be made to the cabinet. I will of course document them here and on video as well.

When I posted the pictures of the drawers out on social media, I got quite a few comments about the Asteroids sign on top of the tool cabinet. The sign is an old marquee off of an Asteroids game cabinet that I bought via E-Bay. When I was a bit younger, and not yet married, along with some coworkers, I set out to start build an arcade cabinet. I built a control panel, but never got beyond that. I had the marquee lying around, so I built a small case for it, and put a light behind it. Skip ahead a few years, after moving out of that house, getting married, going back to school for my masters, and several job changes it had been put in a corner of the garage and gotten forgotten about. When I hung the hand tool cabinet, I did a fairly extensive clean out of the garage. A lot of junk gotten thrown away, when I came across that sign. I found that the light still worked, so I put it on top of the cabinet, and plugged it in with the shop lighting. It now displays proudly whenever I am out working in the shop. While the sign has nothing to do with hand tools or woodworking, I often think back at what I had when I made that sign. I was still living on my own, and had a very modest amount of tools, mainly for home renovation. I didn’t have anywhere the woodworking tool capacity that I have today, but yet I was able to build a simple piece that has held up well over the years.

What a journey its been, and will continue to be!

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Like most jointers, mine came with two basic push blocks. While they are safer to use than nothing at all, there is a better alternative out there. A couple of years ago I bought one GRR-Rip Block at a woodworking show, and loved how it worked on the jointer. I ended up buying a second one, and both are now dedicated for use at the jointer. Since I no longer use the standard push blocks, and I didn’t want to start the new ones on the jointer tables, I decided it was time to change the storage on my jointer to accommodate the GRR-Rip Block. I used scarp material from around the shop to put this together. Since I got all my measurements off the blocks and jointer, I don’t have and any drawings on this one. Just make sure that the bottom board is wide enough to accommodate both blocks as well as the two side pieces. For the length, make sure it is long enough for the back support and the length of a block. The new storage solution for the GRR-Rip blocks works very well to keep them out-of-the-way when they aren’t needed, but are easily grabbed when I am ready to face joint a board.

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The artist of our family is most definitely my step-daughter. As her skill and talent develop, she needs a true easel, rather than books propping up a canvas on the kitchen table.

The construction is a basic a-frame style easel. The center rail has a rabbet running down each side of it, forming a reverse t-track. This allows the bottom shelf and the top clamp to be adjustable for both height and various sizes canvases. The two movable parts lock in place with a couple of star knobs which essentially clamps them in place. The support leg is adjustable so that the easel can tilt at various angles. This is accomplished by using two lengths of wood, one of which has a through groove ran down most the length. The other has a knob to hold the two pieces together. A third piece links the to the lower length of wood and to the main a-frame of the easel. This makes for a very stable support leg.

I decided to keep the wood unfinished. This is because I honestly didn’t see the point of finishing it. With being used to paint on, it is going to get messy. Also, there is a good chance my daughter will want to paint it to make it her own. She is the artist after all! For this reason, I used poplar for the wood, both for the economy as well as it takes paint nicely.

This was a fun project to build! In addition to that, I am looking forward to seeing the wonderful works of art my daughter will create on it!